There’s been a minor revolution brewing lately, in quiet corners and in hushed tones, of ideas once thought unspeakably blasphemous, denounced as heretical ravings of fanatic madmen, the likes of which plague respectable civilization like a bloodthirsty mosquito at a hemophilia convention. The idea that stylish travel clothing is not imaginary. Gasp!
For years I have complained as loudly as possible at the ludicrous notion that travel clothing must, by necessity, be obscenely hideous; that somehow its performance must inherently be intertwined with a repulsive aesthetic, with no possible compromise for those wishing to appear presentable amongst mixed company. Either you get hiking clothing, or you get fashionable clothing. You can never get both.
But this is just abject nonsense. There’s nothing about ugliness that offers a performance advantage, and, when it comes to travel, ugliness is actually a performance disadvantage.
If you have to pack twice as much clothing because half your outfits are stylish, and half of them are functional, ugliness will literally weigh you down, and hold you back. And if you are so unfortunate as to break past the maximum limit of carry-on only minimalism, you’ll be stuck paying extra to check bags, and then you’ll have to spend hours waiting for them on the other side…if they show up at all.
Which means, as I’ve said before, but can’t say often enough: When it comes to travel…beauty is actually a performance advantage.
Just take a look at these two shirts, which share exactly the same set of features:
One looks nice enough that you won’t need to pack an extra shirt for fancy occasions, while the other does not. Guess which one!
Now, as a minor aside, I don’t care about fashion. If I’m wearing anything fancier than a t-shirt, it’s because the planets have aligned in a once-in-a-thousand-year cycle to forcibly drag me out of my comfort zone and shove me into the pit of despair that is Society’s Fashion Expectations.
But for those who do care, or who want to appear presentable at the very least, then fashion matters. At least a little. And it’s also incredibly easy to make high-tech clothing look like normal clothing. You just make it that way. And who wouldn’t want to look good and feel good at the same time?
Sadly, the Berlin Wall which splits function and fashion has been so thoroughly solidified in the hearts and minds of the masses that most people can’t even imagine how it could possibly be otherwise, denouncing the mere notion of fashionable travel clothing as the ravings of a deranged lunatic, claiming they can’t possibly wear travel clothing during fancy occasions, because they “want to look good.” But this is just a complete misunderstanding of what travel clothing is in the first place.
So let’s review, shall we?
What makes travel clothing “travel clothing”
I’ve spent the last several years researching this topic, taking thoroughly detailed notes and spending many sleepless nights weighing the tactical advantages of features of all sorts, culminating in this exhaustive list of what is required for something to be considered “travel clothing.” Here it is:
- The fabric.
Yes, that’s it.
I’ll say it again: The only thing that really matters when it comes to high-tech, high-performance clothing, whether it’s for hiking, biking, climbing, traveling, or whatever else, is the fabric. Nothing more.
So…why does it have to be ugly?
It doesn’t.
Take a look at a good ol’ fashioned pair of Dockers compared to a pair of Bluffworks, and see if you’re still convinced that travel clothing has to be atrocious:
Seriously, why can’t everything just look good?
Other common travel clothing features
Of course, the fabric isn’t the only thing that’s useful, but it’s certainly the only thing that’s required. If you want travel-friendly clothing, all you need is travel-friendly fabric. Done and done.
But that’s not to say there wouldn’t be a potential added bonus from incorporating some of the other commonly seen travel clothing features. Some of them are great. But if you’re trying to pack light and prepare for ridiculous weather variations and impromptu sink laundry adventures, the fabric has absolute priority.
That said, other features commonly found in specialized clothing items can be potentially useful, depending on the circumstances:
- Zippered security pockets: As a paranoid semi-hermit who enjoys venturing forth into the chaotic vortex of the developing world, I consider zippered pockets nearly essential for travel. I say nearly essential, because you can just get a money belt and not worry about it, but I find zippered pockets to be significantly more comfortable. That said, they should be hidden. There’s very little point in a “security” pocket that’s overtly visible, announcing to all onlookers just exactly where you hide your spare cash, and looking out of place when you’re trying to socialize in fancy settings.
- Cargo pockets: Not a bad idea, and it’s certainly possible to find cargo pants with a little more subtlety than military-grade safari expedition gear, though it’s quite likely that you’d additionally want a pair of normal-looking travel pants for somewhat more formal occasions. It’s not so bad carrying a pair of each, but don’t carry too many overall.
- Zip-off legs: This will allow you to pack one less pair of shorts, but won’t be so useful for impressing the fashion-conscious. Again, carrying a pair of outdoorsy zip-off pants along with a pair of nicer pants is a pretty decent combination, particularly if they’re both able to dry quickly, so you can wash them easily and switch back and forth as needed. I’d prefer all of my gear to look nice, but it’s not a bad idea to include an outfit you don’t mind getting dirty, and in that case, it doesn’t need to look good.
- Reflective panels: This is far more common in cycling clothing than anything else, but can be found in athletic gear as well, which is why you might see backpackers wearing these. I can certainly see the appeal for bikers and nocturnal runners, but I prefer if these could remain easily hidden, and deployed on demand, which makes for a nice balance between function and fashion.
As someone who cares more about travel than outdoorsy mountain climbing or whatever, I consider hidden zippered security pockets to be the only non-fabric feature worth seeking out. Two is probably plenty for most people.
But the point of this tirade is to point out that high-tech performance does not require ugliness.
I mean seriously, can you tell which of these is a quick-drying, machine-washable, wrinkle-resistant, better-than-a-regular-blazer travel blazer?
Trick question! They both are.
Options aren’t so bad for the ladies, either. I may not know much about women’s fashion, but I’m pretty sure only one of these qualifies as a potential out-on-the-town jacket:
By the way, women’s rain jackets have been making particularly great strides in terms of doubling as casual coats. Take a look here for some good examples.
What stylish travel clothing should exclude
As with all sorts of things, sometimes it’s what’s left out that makes something work properly.
And to me, travel clothing must inherently exclude the following:
- Any indication that it’s travel clothing.
Anything at all. Seriously, anything.
The problem with most so-called “travel clothing” is that it announces itself to the world as travel clothing, immediately letting everyone know that you’re from out of town. I mean really, do you like to look like a backpacker at home? Probably not. So why would you want to look like a backpacker while out and about in London for the evening?
And it’s not just that it looks weird, and could attract pickpockets, and encourages you to pack twice as much; it’s that it’s completely pointless. It’s childishly easy to hide each and every indication that an article of clothing is travel clothing, while retaining 100% of the functionality. Remember, it’s the fabric that’s important.
Annoying look-at-me-and-my-travel-clothing indications include:
- Enormous logos. Do I need to tell people where I buy my clothing in order to visit the Eiffel Tower? No! And although restrained use of branding is just fine, I am of the opinion that less is more, particularly on really fancy clothing that’s appropriate for a business meeting or an opera visit.
- Visible zippers. This is especially true of “security” pockets that are effortlessly visible. How secure can they be if everyone knows exactly where they are? Hiding them from view is an objective win-win.
- Blindingly bright colors. Mountaineers generally use bright colors for visibility, but you don’t need to be fluorescent yellow for people to see you in a city. I can certainly see the reasoning for covering oneself in shiny orange while out in the wilderness, but goddammit, at least give us the option of subtle neutrals!
- Anything else that’s weird. Zip-off legs, mesh panels, whatever. If it’s not found on regular clothing, it probably shouldn’t be found on travel clothing. Or, at the very least, it shouldn’t be prominently visible. I can allow a little leeway if these features are subtle, or somehow look nice, but it’s easy to screw this up.
And just look what happens when you subtract those extras:
One has visible zippers and a reflective mountaineering logo, while the other is classy enough for a wedding. But they both use exactly the same type of fabric, meaning they’ll provide pretty much indistinguishable performance. So why not just look fantastic all the time?
Again, it’s not so bad to have an outfit or two for dusty trail adventures, and another outfit or two for fancy evening activities; if they all dry quickly and can be hung up to dry overnight, you can hand wash them on a daily basis and never run out of clothing, and still keep the grand total amount of gear to a sleek minimum. You can still pack light by bringing…gasp…only as much as you actually need.
But if you bring nothing but universally versatile (universatile?) clothing, you won’t have to worry about which outfit is suitable for which occasion, because everything will be great, all day, every day. Live the dream.
Okay, I’m sold! Where do I go for stylish travel clothing?
The originator of all this, as far as I have seen, was Nau, who started making functional, fashionable (and eco-friendly) clothing all the way back in 2005. They have a fairly extensive selection (including casual-use items made of organic cotton) but their outerwear is second to none. If you want a coat that’ll handle a mountain snowstorm as well as a trip to the opera, Nau is the first place you should look.
Other aforementioned examples include some of the newcomers in the “tailored performance” clothing category, which consists of high-end, high-tech, high-fashion outfits that work just as well for a board meeting as they do on the trail, and include the aforementioned Outlier, as well as Proof NY, Ministry of Supply, and Outerboro. These companies are relatively new (with only a limited selection) but I wanted to highlight them in particular, because each and every one of these will provide a slap to the face to anyone who says travel clothing and ugliness are somehow best friends.
Huckberry carries several of these functional/fashionable brands, and runs sales on them all the time, and is a good place to go to find a big selection all in one place.
Other, more established companies, generally with far more options (especially for ladies) include Rohan (one of the few people on the planet making travel jeans), and even some of the major outdoor players like North Face and Columbia have some decent gear, often at cheaper prices than many others, though keep in mind that the larger the company gets, and the more outdoorsy it is, the longer it’ll take to sift through all the not-particularly-attractive hiking gear (and useless cotton) they also have. I have spent many a long night digging through these inadequate options before finding something even halfway presentable. But it can be done. Soldier onward!
But we have a long way to go. Not only are these options few and far between, but most people still refuse to believe they exist. It’s going to take years…decades, even…to convince them otherwise.
And then, someday, we’ll all be impeccably dressed, with clothing that…well, it was actually described quite perfectly, by one of the naysayers, when finally introduced to this wonderful world of stylish travel clothing:
“But…that doesn’t look like travel clothing. That looks like something you could wear to a nice restaurant.”
Exactly.
Minor update: Wanna see some concrete examples of stylish outfits that can handle whatever you throw at them? I’ve added a list here. Those “you can’t look good if you pack light” people need a minor physics lesson.
Great writing. Entertaining, informative, I especially love the American stereotype rant! So here is a rant – the price of travel clothing. I come from a town – Steamboat Springs, CO – where we don’t have clothes, we have “gear” and endless gearhead conversations. It’s interesting that you review and link to THE most pricey gear on the planet. Some of us need high tech gear for work, or we are athletes, and I’ve noticed there are 4 ways to get it: just buy it – you are wealthy or you actually have disposable income, get lucky, get sponsored, get pro-deals. These days I’m one of the lucky scavengers. Finding the perfect travel pant among the $4.00 Goodwill store picks is an art.
A tip. Do your scavenging at 2nd hand stores, er, boutiques, in the most exclusive resort town your wandering takes you. My current favorite is Ellsworth, ME Goodwill store, close to Bar Harbor. Anywhere within 100 miles of Aspen, CO – also great. Holy moly, $77. for an Outlier brand TANK top or $450 for a blazer? Just no. Help out the planet.
P.S. Strategy does not apply to long underwear. or socks.
eBay is a good place to go too. Part of the problem with any newcomer is that it’ll probably be pricier than larger brands. Huge names like Columbia, which tend to be relatively inexpensive, could make fantastic gear, and mass-produce by the millions, at affordable prices. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly rare to find outdoor companies making stylish clothing, which is why these new brands have been succeeding; but I do hope their success forces the rest of the companies to provide more casually styled items, and we’ll have style and price at the same time. But in the meantime, if you only buy a few items once in a while, and get plenty of use out of them, it can be okay.
I have to agree about secondhand stores. I live on the southern edge of the Denver metro area. My current everyday North Face khakis (definitely hiking pants but better looking than average), a reasonably stylish Columbia t-shirt, and a pair of Rick Steves day packs all came from local thrift stores. Each of those in nearly perfect condition for single digit dollars. In Hawaii my Official Souvenir Loud Shirts were all bought at local thrift stores.
End of season clearance sales and REI’s weekend used gear sales are great options too. That’s how I’ve saved a fortune on new or worn-once shoes – repeatedly.
Hi, great article, and I have like a dozen tabs open off from reading this, just looking at the technical classy wear gear. One thing I didn’t see too much focus on was shoes – you mention having one pair of shoes and flipflops, but what about something that would be good to go out to a nice club (and you know they can be picky about ‘dress’ shoes.) Would love to read an in depth article on that. The way I travel is a bit more stay-put in a place. I’ve been 2.5 months in Bangkok, 1 month in Seoul, 1 month in New York, so technically I can just lug a big suitcase and carry normal clothing, but I guess I’m a fan of going with technical multi-purpose use clothing.
Have you seen this post of mine? It’s all about semi-dressy shoes that can work as everyday shoes, though I don’t go into too much detail about specific items. Any high-quality leather shoe will work as a travel shoe, so you can just pick the one that looks the best, and is comfy.
After I posted it, I kept reading your blog a whole bunch and saw some posts related to it. I still haven’t quite found a good casual dress shoe for every day type thing, and I’ve been browsing zappos a whole bunch lately :)
I was in search for a shoe that looked nice/casual/dressy but was also light and great for hiking and not too expensive. After looking around for a while I stumbled upon the rockport brand and their rocsports lite line. They have many styles, from casual to dressy to formal, but the best part is they use an athletic sole and are featherweight and lighter than my running shoes. I’ve been wearing them to the office but got them for my backpacking trip to europe. Checkout their site and also places like amazon and ebay for good deals just search for “rocsports lite”
I went for 20 days in Switzerland recently and I too had a shoe issue. I went with my daily shoe as the “Keen Boston II” http://www.keenfootwear.com/product/shoes/men/boston-ii It was comfortable and I could wear them with my nice Bluffwork pants. I also recommend the “Keen Portsmouth” http://www.keenfootwear.com/product/shoes/men/portsmouth
I also packed a pair of ECCO Mens BIOM Lite 1.1 http://us.shop.ecco.com/mens-biom-lite-1.1/802014,default,pd.html – I would wear these with shorts and also no socks. They are light, fold flat into your luggage.
If I was going to be in a more tropical place, I would have brought some sandals.
Hope this helps.
I like where you’re going with this. I’m on the road a lot and need to look semi professional at times. I started looking at the brands you linked but I’m running into the same problem I always do when pant shopping: my quads are bigger than most.
I just measured and my waist is an honest 34″ while my thighs are about 26″ around. Using the Outlier sizing chart for their 60/30 chino as a reference, I would need to go to a 38″ waist just to get a big enough thigh opening to be skin tight. Any ideas? Thanks in advance
Hmm…Ministry of Supply has an option on all their clothing for either a slim fit, or a standard fit. I don’t know what they each look like, but at least they provide the options. I’d send them an email and see if they can help.
Wanted to share another net piece of travel kit.
I like very small wallets…this company makes some great products. Perhaps the snarkynomad could demo the product and write-up a review.
The Passport Sleve is very cool for us travelers – small and lite.
http://bellroy.com/wallets/passport-sleeve-wallet
I got something from Allett which I like, though Bellroy had some nice options as well. Budget concerns won out for me, though, and Allett has nylon wallets that are significantly cheaper than leather, and will probably last a good 20 years.
Never understood the use case of those small wallets. I carry way more cards and cash than that on a daily basis….?
When traveling, I like to carry just a driver’s license (as an ID), a single credit or debit card, and some cash. Tiny wallets work quite nicely in this case, since you can leave your library card and everything else at home. That way if you lose your wallet, it’s barely a problem. Other cards and other IDs (like a passport) should be kept in a separate pocket, so you’re less likely to lose everything.
I’ve always just put my credit card and debit card in the same money pouch with my passport inside my pants and carried what I think is enough cash for the day in a money clip in my right front pocket. It’s pretty hard to pick the front pants pockets without being noticed and if someone manages this you’ve only lost a few dollars. Losing your debit card is a much bigger deal as getting a replacement in a third world country can be next to impossible but I like to think I’d notice someone else’s hand rummaging around inside my pants in plenty of time to do something about it.
Jeans-style pockets are especially helpful with this, as are slim-fitting pants. But I’d bet there are pickpockets out there that could do a better job pickpocketing than I’d do noticing, so the zips are always a nice bonus.
Where does everyone stand on issues of green production standards, sustainable materials and equitable labor practices when it comes to travel clothing? I know Patagonia and Icebreaker are pretty upfront about their materials and production practices, but what about the others?
Full disclosure, I found this article as part of market research for my own company, so I’m not trying to pull a fast one. I would really like to know how much of these issues are to everyone.
Personally, I love when companies try to minimize their impact, which is why I like certain fabric alternatives such as Tencel and so on; but it’s so difficult finding good travel clothing that finding something that’s also environmentally friendly is exceedingly difficult. But I also think it helps that the gear lasts a long time. My cotton clothing falls apart; my outdoorsy gear doesn’t. Not having to replace ripped up clothing is a nice little impact reduction too.
Nice piece. Its a revolution. Non functional clothing will be a thing of the past. A few of us disruptive brands are changing the norm, challenging the status quo. Its only a matter of time. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ortiz+industry
http://www.ortizindustry.com
http://www.trektechblog.com/2014/09/badass-ortiz-industry-contest-come-get.html#.VDHVEkvtXcY
We are coming.
Have you considered Lululemon? They are known for women’s exercise clothing, but the men’s line has developed pretty well over the last few years. Their clothing changes frequently (mostly getting better, although not always) and looks very good.
Many of the pants have hidden zipper pockets, high tech fabrics that wick, wash and dry easily, pack small and look good. The ones designed to bicycle to work and wear as slacks are great. They are not cheap, but you can wear them almost anywhere.
I’ve been in the store a few times, and I’ve seen some good casual outfits that don’t look like workout clothing, and I expect it would work nicely. No direct experience, though.
I have earlier versions of what has become the ABC pant.
They work very well and allow for more muscular thighs and posterior. Hidden zipper, too. Very comfortable.
My one piece of advice is to try them on in the store.
In general, LLL tends to be more true to size, so you may need larger sizes than what you wear in other brands.
Also, sizing variations exist within LLL both because styles are cut for male body variation and also because there seems to be some variations I can’t explain (material changes and size shifts? Different production runs? Poor quality control?).
Also, watch for mark-downs…
Great post! And since you’ve posted it seems like there’s been a boost in cute travel clothes, especially for women! Toad&Co (formerly the rockin brand Horny Toad) has a whole LINE they’re calling Modern Travel – quick dry/wrinkle free clothes that actually look like normal every day clothes! The regular clothes they make are super soft so I bet this new travel line will have some gems too. Prana has also stepped up their game too, with lots of gorgeous prints. Just in time for summer…
Yeah, both of them have some good options. Nau is another one, particularly for women. They’re all doing better, but there can never be enough. It should have been this way this whole time.
Awesome article sir! Question: does anyone know a good place to get stylish travel SHOES? I would kill for a pair of leather loafers of oxfords that had walking soles and didn’t look totally ridiculous. I travel a lot for both fun and work, and because of meetings, I often need to pack a separate pair of leather loafers or oxfords that take up WAY too much room in my carry-on, when ideally, I could have a good pair that would allow for miles of walking. Any and all recommendations would be freaking amazing.
It gets a little tricky…generally I just try to find a brand I like, and then I look through their offerings every once in a while. I like Ecco and Merrell, though it’s hard to say if those will work for everyone. There’s definitely some room for improvement in the world of shoes…
I wonder if Aurora Shoes, made in Aurora NY would meet your needs. They are a small company. Shoes are made when you order. For first order; you mail in a tracing of your foot, for proper sizing. Color & style are limited. Women 5 styles, 5 colors. I think men have only 2 styles. Full grain cowhide, analine dyed, vibram soles. The leather comes from a tannery in Chicago (Hoween sp?). They have an Etsy page as well as their own website. Men’s shoes are close to $200 – I didn’t think that was too bad for multi-purpose durable shoes. I do not own them but I am planning to order. I found them on a minimalist blog where people were recommending shoe brands that are durable / made to last & multi-purpose (they also listed which ones used to be good but are now not due to production in China). Good Luck
Eytan, Have you seen or possibly even tried the Coolibar Sun Shirt? (http://www.coolibar.com/product/Men/Shirts-Tees/Sun-Shirt/pc/2146/c/0/sc/2201/156248.uts) Like you, I want my travel shirts to look like a normal shirt, but be lightweight, cool and comfortable. I have bought some of the Columbia stuff, but they are far from a normal style in my opinion. I’m about to invest in a couple of new shirts for travel and bumped in to these last night.
I haven’t tried that one, and I actually don’t have any specific picks for lightweight synthetics. Generally I just look around at Columbia or similar companies and occasionally there’ll be something reasonable. Ministry of Supply has a few options too.